Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU) SPE Student Chapter, ChampionX Chemical Technologies, and Azerbaijan Chemical Society (AzeCS) have collaborated to provide a certification in “Oilfield Problems and Chemical Solutions” for students. The course is developed as a series of webinars to help students bridge the gap between the knowledge gained at university and in-house industry experience.
Orkhan Hajiyev, an account manager at ChampionX, founding member of the AzeCS, and ASOIU alumni, who designed the course said, “The idea for the course stemmed from a call with the SPE chapter, who continuously look for industry professionals to share their knowledge. At ChampionX, we were investigating ways to boost our community engagement, so implementing a course which provides experience for students and will benefit their professional development was an ideal fit.”
The course is designed as a series of webinars beginning January and running until May. Sessions are provided by local and foreign experts with 1-2 sessions per month. Students from third, fourth and master’s years can participate, and the topics cover major problems in oilfields for chemists such as scale, gas hydrate, and produced water separation. The course is open to all majors at the university and specifically targeted at those studying chemical engineering, process engineering, and chemistry degrees.
More than 120 students joined the first session including attendees from various Azerbaijan universities. It also attracted 20 students from educational establishments in the UK, Norway, Turkey, Egypt, India, Philippines, Ukraine, Algeria, Pakistan, and Thailand.
ChampionX’s company district manager, Nick Nicotra, said, “Collaborations with the local industry chapters of SPE and AzeCS help to promote and inspire the next generation to consider ChampionX as a future employer and set us up for continued success within our customer base in Azerbaijan.”
The training is being delivered by the company’s Eastern Hemisphere research, development, and engineering team in Aberdeen, with each webinar relating to their specialist field. The certification offers an opportunity for students and graduates to add to their CV, and help aid their professional development as they transition into industry roles. It consists of nine webinars with quizzes at the end; students must pass each one above 70% to achieve the certification.
“It’s a big challenge for young people to land their first job on the career ladder, and we wanted to share what is expected in this sector and create more opportunity for them as they progress with their studies, said Hajiyev.
Ismayil Alizada, an MSc physical chemistry and chemical engineering student at the French-Azerbaijani University said: “I signed up [to the program] to deepen my understanding of oilfield chemistry in the areas not covered by my university subjects. I’m also gaining valuable insight into each oilfield chemistry sub-sector, which will help me to decide what I apply for after graduation.”
Details for signing up to the ChampionX webinars can be found here.